PROBLEMS OFWOMEN SELF-IDENTITY IN MANJU KAPUR’S NOVEL “A MARRIED WOMAN”

Abstract

ManjuKapur in her novels depicts how women are coming out of their houses and are getting actively involved in social issues. She presents how life of these women becomes a pendulum vacillating between two ends i.e. family and social life. Her novels are pragmatic portrayal of the torment and the strife of the modern educated middle class women. She is clenched between patriarchy and custom on the one hand, and self-expression, distinctiveness and liberation on the other. Her lead characters feel that they are lost and confused in their exploration of ways to realize themselves as human beings. Her novel A Married Woman (2002) gives a forthright rendering of a married woman’s dismay, sorrows, disappointments and exasperations.A Married Woman is a femino-centric disapproval to the phallocentric society of male dominance. The world of men thrusts limitless control over women. The novel escalates the growing controversy on the issue of homosexual relationship in a formidable way. After so much of discussions on gay and lesbian relationships that they are not mere fancies, this is receiving more visibility in contemporary societies whether one accepts it or not. ManjuKapur is the first Indian novelist to present the lesbian love as a significant topic to be discussed by the women’s rights activists and supporters. Kapur’s emphasis on sexuality in the form of lesbian companionship leads to much uproar in the society.This paper explores the inner vents of her protagonists mind in the Astha’s case, reveals the landscapes which are mysterious yet awe – inspiring and going through it, In addition to the display of woman’s scuffle to acquire self-respect, and self-rule, Kapur lays bare the multiple levels of oppression, including sexual oppression.